To Mindy Kim, one voice lacking on the Roslyn Board of Education is that of the active district mother.
Though Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy sits as the board’s president, Kim said Thursday, she thinks Ben-Levy’s voice is often overshadowed by the six other male trustees during meetings.
And as a mother of three — her children enrolled at Harbor Hill Elementary School, Roslyn Middle School and Roslyn High School — the 10-year Village of Roslyn resident said she is the ideal candidate to balance the voices at the board table.
“I hear the voices of moms when I go to meetings, and it’s not just about numbers, but about how the children react to certain programs and what they’re lacking,” said Kim, who is co-president of the Korean American Parent Society of Roslyn and chair of the district’s multicultural committee.
“I want to help allocate funds in the right place and embrace all children and make sure we accommodate all of them, academically, socially, in sports, academics, arts and music,” she said. “I represent the moms who don’t go to the meetings. There are some, maybe 10 or so, who are at every meeting, but they’re reps for the [Roslyn Parent Faculty Association]. They represent the individual schools, and half of what they talk about at Board of Education meetings doesn’t affect us.”
Kim is one of four candidates seeking election on May 19 to three trustee positions on the Board of Education. She is the only non-incumbent in the race, facing trustees David Dubner, Adam Haber and David Seinfeld.
Although Haber and Seinfeld have served multiple terms on the board, and Dubner was a member of the district’s Citizens Audit Advisory Committee prior to his appointment as trustee in 2013, Kim said she is not concerned about residents being unfamiliar with her name or priorities as a potential board member.
“I’m active, all the principals know me, the superintendent knows me, I’m at all the school functions,” she said. “I think if this is for the Board of Education, and I’m representing all the schools, I think I’m as qualified as someone who is already on the Board of Education.”
Kim lauded the passage of the district’s $41.3 million capital bond last year and said she was impressed by the level of detail in the Board of Education’s public presentations on the capital plan and $103 million 2015-16 budget, which will also be on the May 19 ballot.
But, she said, she is concerned that such presentations often do not reach the eyes and ears of Roslyn parents, and that it is up to the board to better communicate its initiatives within the community.
“Whenever there’s a new program, people talk about it. Is it a waste of money,” she said.
“Is it good? Parents don’t know, but when you come to a Board of Education meeting, you hear good things about them,” Kim continued. “Whatever perceptions they might have, I want to open up their eyes and come back and be able to give them feedback as a member of the board.”
As a mother with children at the elementary, middle and high school level, Kim said, she would also be tapped into student issues too, such as whether to prioritize a music lesson over an important class or juggling coursework with extracurricular activities.
“I know some elementary moms who feel like they’re not getting as much as the high schoolers are, so I would advocate for them. I think kindergarteners are just as important as the high school kids,” Kim said. “I know I can spot the practical points of every program. I could convey the frustration from moms. I think those points need to be expressed on the board.”
